THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CECIL COUNTY 



BY 



GEORGE BURBANK SHATTUCK 



Introductory. 



Within the past few years new methods, which have been developed 

 in the stndy of topography, have made it possible to unravel, in a large 

 measure, the past history of a region by a critical study of its physical 

 features. While the older method of discussing a region by describ- 

 ing in detail its various topographic aspects has by no means passed 

 into disuse, yet it is employed now only to impart a mental picture 

 of the region, and to prepare the way for a discussion of the geologic 

 history through which the region has passed. The present top- 

 ography of Cecil county is the latest chapter of a most interesting 

 history, which is forever writing and never finished. Like the bits 

 of glass in a kaleidoscope, the particles of sand and stone which con- 

 stitute the hills and plains are constantly shifted in their position and 

 arrangement, building up one combination of topographic forms in 

 one geologic cycle, and another in the next. The topographic history 

 of Cecil county is probably more diversified and interesting than that 

 of any of the other counties which cluster about Chesapeake Bay. 

 It was begun in the remote past, has continued on down the geologic 

 ages to the present and is still unfinished. Many of the early portions 

 of this record are unfortunately lost or obscure, but as time advanced 

 the record became clearer and more continuous, until the later chap- 

 ters are almost as easily read as if they had occurred yesterday. In 

 treating of this subject a description of the topography of Cecil county 

 will be first given, and then a discussion of the geologic events which 

 have produced it. 



